Help count fishers at sea for Census 2026
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is seeking support from WA’s fishing industry to ensure fishers are accurately accounted for in the next Census, which will be held on Tuesday 11 August 2026.
The Census counts every person in Australia on Census night, wherever they are staying. This includes people onboard Australian-crewed commercial vessels, such as fishing vessels that are in Australian waters.
The information collected in the Census is used to inform important decisions about transport, health care, schools, infrastructure and business. It’s also used to help plan local services for individuals, families and communities.
How to help
The transitory nature of fishing vessels ads an additional degree of difficulty, so the ABS needs to take a specialised approach to ensure this population group is accurately counted.
To achieve this, the ABS is requesting your support to:
- identify in-scope vessels in advance of Census night and provide information about known fishing vessel movements on Census night,
- provide the ABS with contact lists for in-scope vessels, and
- raise awareness of the Census, via networks such as emails and newsletters.
Businesses who identify any in-scope vessels in Australian waters on 11 August can contact ABS at [email protected] or 1800 591 878.